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The Vancouver Canucks will take on the Edmonton Oilers for the second consecutive game when the two teams square off tonight at Rexall Place. The Oilers won the first of the two meetings decisively so the Canucks will be looking for a better effort this evening.
Puck drop is at 7PT/10ET and can be seen on CBC and NHL Network (US).
Here are the line combinations John Tortorella - who will be on the Canucks bench for the first time tonight - and his staff have put together.
Higgins - Schroeder - Hansen
Shinkaruk - Horvat - Kassian
Weise - Santorelli - Sestito
Jensen - Gaunce - Lain
Edler - Tanev
Alberts - Corrado
Weber - Sauve
Lack
Cannata
And here are the Edmonton Oilers line's for the night.
Smyth - Hall - Hemsky
Perron - Gagner - Eberle
Hamilton - Khaira - Yakupov
Jones - Acton - Brown
Belov - Grebeshkov
Nurse - Petry
Hunt - Fedun
Labarbera
Rimmer
Notes:
- David Booth was supposed to make his preseason debut for the Canucks tonight, but will not do so. Booth reportedly left the ice after five minutes this morning with a groin problem. Nicklas Jensen took his spot in the lineup.
- The Canucks seem somewhat set on Dale Weise and Tom Sestito making the team as 4th liners. I'll be interested to see how Mike Santorelli plays as he very well could make the team as a 4th line center between those two players.
- Eddie Lack will get the nod in goal but Tortorella is unsure if he'll play the whole thing. I'm guessing it'll depend on how he plays in the first period or two.
- Jordan Schroeder seems to be a bit behind the eight-ball in terms of trying to make the Canucks team this year. He'll have a golden opportunity to prove himself against Edmonton as he'll be centering Chris Higgins and Jannik Hansen on the top line. I think a big game from him would go a long way.
- Hunter Shinkaruk and Bo Horvat are playing together again as they'll make up 2/3 of the 2nd line. Both of them have had good camps and have played well together so it's not surprising to see Tortorella give them another look on the same line. A couple more strong efforts from those two could very well earn them both a roster spot - at least to start the season.
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Eastern Conference playoff predictions.
Western Conference playoff predictions.
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